first smoke failed


 
D

D_Whisler

New member
Hey guys new to the board here.. like i said in my introduction post iv been lurking around getting ideas an info for the day i got my smoker.. well i got to smoke on it here last sunday for the first time and it failed big time.. really bummed me out.

I started the smoker with the minion method.. filled the water dish.. tossed the pork shoulder on and plugged my et732 in.. i fought the temps for a while but i knew this was going to happen on my first smoke..

Well i got it to stable at around 253 or so at the grill but the dome was around 200 give or take.. i passed out for a few hours and the internal temp got to 160 so i went to wrap in foil and all i could smell is camp fire an no bbq smell.. the rub didnt form any bark and it smelled more like a pot roast..
After it hit 190 i pulled it and what was bark on there had came off. About 1/3 of it wanted to pull the rest i had to cut.. no smoke ring at all.. i think my probs my be off. I tested them in water and they were a few degrees off from one another an then one would spike over 300 degrees and come back down.. an no i didnt touch the bottom of the pan..

Sorry for the long post.. just frustrated an bummed out..

Dan
 
If you are in Washington I'm thinking it was pretty cold. Try again with no water in the pan. The water is a heat sink. Competition cookers like Harry Soo do not use water in the WSM. Just foil the pan. Make sure the ring is filled to the top with charcoal. Try Kingsford blue bag charcoal. It is more reliable although it does not burn as long as lump. Stubbs charcoal briquettes(at Lowes) and Kingsford Competition briquettes are also good options. Keep at it and when you have a good cook let us know.
 
Basically when you wrap the meat in foil you are steaming it. No hard bark will develop unless you throw it back on the smoker without foil to harden. If you start cutting the airflow when the temps are going up its easier to control the rise . Shoulder takes a long time to cook. I would read some of Chris A's tips for smoking on this site and follow them. Did you trim any of the fat of the shoulder? I agree with Danny B about not using water in the pan. Try it again. You'll get better at this. Remember, temp of the meat is ONLY a guide. When you probe the meat with a skewer it should go into it like a hot knife in butter. THAT is the real test of being done.Hey, you didn't say how the meat turned out??
 
Dan, what were you using for charcoal and smoke wood? Did the pork go straight from the fridge to the smoker or did you let it come to room temperature first?
 
Dan I've never used any fancy therms, I just rely on the dome temps...I'll check the meat temp with my thermapen, but rely mostly on feel with pork and brisket. Try not cooking with water in the pan. Foiling will ruin bark. You can always unfoil and put the meat back on for a bit to firm the bark up. Keep trying, eventually it will become second nature!
 
I use water in the pan for ribs and sometimes brisket. Butt really doesn't need it. Was it a shoulder or butt? Shoulder is big and takes much longer than a butt.

190 is only a starting point. Like everyone said, test with the probe through the foil. Foil will soften the bark. Either use butcher paper or throw back on to firm up the bark.
 
I did use kingsford with hickory chunks.. the meat did come out good enough to eat but i was so mad that i didnt and others did.. im gonna check the dome therm when i wake up today.. an when i foiled it there wasnt much for bark in the first place and what was there came off..

I did let it sit for a short bit while i brought the cooker up to temp then tossed it on..

I think the grill probe is off so ill try not using it next time.. im gonna get a pen therm but its gonna be a while cuz we live on a shoe string budget around here..

Im amazed with your guys posts.. im big into 4x4s an most sites with guys that post like mine here get flamed so bad its ridiculous even over the most simple answer .. i think im gonna like it here
 
Dan, I belong to a Harley forum so I understand the flaming you speak of. As another new member myself, this place is different. My suggestion (as a new guy learning to smoke) is to try chicken for the next cook. It's pretty forgiving & doesn't take very long. Getting to know the quirks of the smoker has been half the battle. Smoking chicken/ribs/meatloaf is increasing the knowledge base & comfort level leading up to this weekends smoke of something else (butt or brisket - not sure yet.) Practice makes perfect. And my neighbors like that I'm practicing every weekend... lol
 
How much wood did you use? If you just foil your pan next time make sure you leave an airspace between the pan and the layer of foil or you may get a burnt grease flavour. I rarely foil, as others say it ruins your bark but it does speed up the cook. If you had to slice some of the pork because it wouldn't pull then you needed to cook it longer. Smoke rings are nice to see but don't matter for pulled pork as much as good bark does.

When pulling the pork try adding some of your rub to it and make sure the bark is mixed in well.
 
I don't use water. I use a foiled clay flower pot base in the foiled water pan.

I start with a full charcoal ring, with 4 of 5 fist sized chunks of wood mixed in. I start the charcoal in 3 places with a high output propane torch and let it come up to cooking temperature before I put the meat on.

I cook at 250F. I put the injected and rubbed shoulder on, uncovered, fat side down and let it cook for about 4 hours or so, to about 150F internal. I then pan and cover the meat and let it cook to about 195F internal. Total cook time will depend on the size of your shoulder, about 1 1/4 hour per pound.

If you are getting erratic temperature readings on your ET-732, make sure the probes are properly seated in the transmitter unit. Erratic/erroneous readings are also a sign of a bad probe.

Having the grate thermometer read 50F higher than the dome thermometer is normal in a WSM.

I don't know your rub recipe, but a lot of sugar can help form a good bark.

Good luck,

Bob
 
Last edited:
I'm relatively new to the WSM, so I don't have the experience of most of the other BBQ Vets on this site, but I've done ok, so I'll share some thoughts.

I read a couple times on this forum that there is no such thing as a failed smoke, as long as you learn from it. That helped me get over my frustration the 1st time I did baby backs(didn't go long enough).

For a good bark, you could:
1) Foiled pan, no water
2) Put a healthy amount of brown sugar over the butt(works for me every time)
3) Get your smoker up to 300+ degrees to start(that helps to form bark, plus water & meat are both heat sinks)

I would recommend not testing your probes in water, test side by side with your internal house temp, near your thermostat. Replacement probes are $20 if they get wet and short out.

I would go with another pork butt before monving to another meat. Pork butts are the most forgiving until you learn & season your WSM.
 
i learned rather fast that you need to cook at a grate temp near 275. no water. no foil. for pulled pork you need an internal temp near 198-210 and then test with a probe.
use the minion method, i pack the briq in and use about 20 hot coals to start. as the temp rises i start shutting down two of the three vents and then i go to about half shut on the last vent as i near the temp i want. the real problem if you want to call it is that you just plain need practice. and with this practice you will learn to adjust for outside temps and for the differances in the meat itsel as some can take longer or shorter times to cook due to density. also when using chunks for smoking you should start out light and then work yer way up to what you like. all this is part of the fun of smoking and bbq. have fun doing it, don't get fustrated.
 
Wow thanks guys.. i used 40 in the starter because it was 42 degrees outside figured it would help.. i used 3 fist size chunks buried and 4 smaller ones on top.. i think it may have been a tough piece of meat that i picked up.. not much fat on the inside..

This weekend im gonna pick up another butt or 2 and try a diff rub an foil the pan.. think part of it was i was so eager to smoke i wasnt looking at it good enough.. and being new to this..
 
Just check your thermo: boil some water and test both 732 and dome thermo by sticking probe (only) in boiling water. Then adjust your cook temps accordingly.
 
Last edited:
If you were able to eat what you cooked, it wasn't a failure. Probably not as great as you were shooting for but it is part of the learning experience. Keep at it and read all you can here and all the other bbq sites you can find. Good information abounds.
 
Well im a bit of a profectionest so it let me down.. most times i have my guns loaded full of ammo and i almost always come out on top.. thanks guys for the info.. with that water pan does it pretty much boil it then smoke it?
 
Last edited:
Dan, with water in the pan it acts like a heat sink. It kind of regulates the fluctuations you get with the smoker BUT it takes a time to get the water to temp even when adding hot water. I like the foiled pan. Temp gets up fairly quickly and I can get my meat on faster. Like others have said just keep practicing . Tweak your technique til it's right. The meat will tell you when it's done not your thermometer.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

 

Back
Top